Chrysanthemum Plant Named ‘Yocarson City’

ABSTRACT

A distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named ‘Yocarson City’, characterized by its upright, somewhat outwardly spreading and uniformly mounded plant habit; vigorous growth habit; freely branching habit; uniform flowering response; early flowering, eight-week response time; floriferousness; daisy-type inflorescences that are about 7.3 cm in diameter; bright red and yellow bicolored ray florets with green disc florets that develop slowly; lack of pollen production; and good postproduction longevity with inflorescences maintaining good substance and color for at least three weeks in an interior environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar ofChrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Dendranthema grandiflora andhereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Yocarson City.

The new Chrysanthemum is a product of a planned breeding programconducted by the Inventors in Salinas, Calif. and Fort Myers, Fla. Theobjective of the breeding program is to create new potted Chrysanthemumcultivars with desirable inflorescence form and floret colors and goodpostproduction longevity.

The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made by the Inventors inMay, 1993, in Salinas, Calif., of a proprietary Chrysanthemum seedlingselection identified as YB-4034 as the female, or seed, parent with theChrysanthemum cultivar Mobile, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,335,as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered andselected by the Inventors in December, 1996, as a single flowering plantwithin the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environmentin Fort Myers, Fla. The selection of this plant was based on itsdesirable inflorescence form and floret colors and good postproductionlongevity.

Asexual reproduction of the new Chrysanthemum by vegetative tip cuttingswas first conducted in Fort Myers, Fla. in February, 1997. Asexualreproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this newChrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successivegenerations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The cultivar Yocarson City has not been observed under all possibleenvironmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat withvariations in environment such as temperature, daylength and lightintensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined tobe the unique characteristics of ‘Yocarson City’. These characteristicsin combination distinguish ‘Yocarson City’ as a new and distinctChrysanthemum:

1. Upright, somewhat outwardly spreading and uniformly mounded planthabit.

2. Vigorous growth habit.

3. Freely branching, dense and full plants.

4. Uniform flowering response.

5. Early flowering, eight-week response time.

6. Very freely flowering.

7. Daisy-type inflorescences that are about 7.3 cm in diameter.

8. Bright red and yellow bicolored ray florets with green disc floretsthat develop slowly.

9. Can be grown as a natural spray-type.

10. Pollen production not observed.

11. Good postproduction longevity with inflorescences maintaining goodsubstance and color for at least three weeks in an interior environment.

Plants of the new Chrysanthemum differ from plants of the parent,cultivar, Mobile, in the following characteristics:

1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are denser and not as open in plantform as plants of the cultivar Mobile.

2. Ray floret color of the new Chrysanthemum is brighter and more orangethan ray floret color of plants of the cultivar Mobile.

3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are more freely flowering than plantsof the cultivar Mobile.

4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum have not been observed to producepollen whereas plants of the cultivar Mobile produce abundant pollen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearanceof the new Chrysanthemum showing the colors as true as it is reasonablypossible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in thephotographs may differ from the color values cited in the detailedbotanical description which more accurately describe the actual colorsof the new Chrysanthemum.

The photograph at the top of the sheet comprises a top perspective viewof a typical flowering plant of ‘Yocarson City’.

The photograph at the bottom of the sheet comprises a close-up view oftypical inflorescences of the cultivar Yocarson City.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

In the following description, color references are made to The RoyalHorticultural Society Colour Chart except where general terms ofordinary dictionary significance are used. The following observationsand measurements describe plants grown and flowered during the Spring inSalinas, Calif. and Leamington, Ontario, Canada, under greenhouseconditions which approximate those generally used in commercial pottedChrysanthemum production. Four unrooted cuttings were directly stuck ina 15-cm container and pinched once. Plants used for this descriptionwere grown as spray-types. Measurements and numerical values representaverages of typical flowering plants.

Botanical classification: Dendranthema grandiflora cultivar YocarsonCity.

Commercial classification: Daisy-type potted Chrysanthemum.

Parentage:

Female, or seed, parent.—Proprietary Chrysanthemum seedling selectionidentified as YB-4034.

Male, or pollen, parent.— Dendranthema grandiflora cultivar Mobile,disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,335.

Propagation:

Type.—Terminal tip cuttings.

Time to rooting.—Seven to ten days with soil temperatures of 21° C.

Rooting habit.—Fine, fibrous and well-branched.

Plant description:

Appearance.—Herbaceous daisy-type potted Chrysanthemum which can begrown as a natural spray-type. Inverted triangle; stems mostly uprightand somewhat outwardly spreading giving a uniformly mounded appearanceto the plant. Freely branching, about four lateral branches developafter removal of terminal apex (pinching); dense and full plants.Vigorous.

Plant height.—About 25 cm.

Plant width.—About 35 cm.

Lateral branches.—Length: About 16 cm. Diameter: About 3 mm. Internodelength: About 1.4 cm. Strength: Strong, flexible. Texture: Pubescent.Color: Slightly darker than 144A.

Foliage description.—Arrangement: Alternate. Length: About 5.7 cm.Width: About 4.5 cm. Apex: Cuspidate. Base: Attenuate to truncate.Margin: Palmately lobed, sinuses between lateral lobes divergent toconvergent. Texture: Upper and lower surfaces with very fine pubescence;veins prominent on lower surface. Color: Young foliage upper surface:147A. Young foliage lower surface: 147B. Mature foliage upper surface:147A. Mature foliage lower surface: 147B. Venation upper surface: 147A.Venation lower surface: 147B. Petiole length: About 2.1 cm. Petiolediameter: About 2 mm. Petiole color: 147A and 147B.

Inflorescence description:

Appearance.—Daisy-type inflorescence form with elongated oblong-shapedray florets. Inflorescences borne on terminals above foliage. Disk andray florets arranged acropetally on a capitulum. Not fragrant.

Flowering response.—Under natural conditions, plants flower in theautumn/winter in the Northern Hemisphere. At other times of the year,inflorescence initiation and development can be induced under shortday/long night conditions (at least 13.5 hours of darkness). Plantsexposed to three weeks of long day/short night conditions after plantingfollowed by photoinductive short day/long night conditions flower abouteight weeks later; early flowering.

Postproduction longevity.—Inflorescences maintain good color andsubstance for at least three weeks in an interior environment.

Quantity of inflorescences.—Typically grown as a spray-type; about fiveto six inflorescences per lateral stem, about 20 to 24 inflorescencesper plant.

Inflorescence bud.—Height: About 6 mm. Diameter: About 7 mm. Color:Close to 147A.

Inflorescence size.—Diameter: About 7.3 cm. Depth (height): About 2.5cm. Diameter of disc: About 1.25 cm. Receptacle diameter: About 5 mm.

Ray florets.—Shape: Elongated-oblong. Orientation: Slightly upright,about 20 to 25° from perpendicular to peduncle. Aspect: Straight andflat. Length: About 3.5 cm. Width: About 8 mm. Apex: Acute, emarginateor dentate. Base: Attenuate; short corolla tube. Margin: Entire.Texture: Smooth, glabrous, satiny. Number of ray florets perinflorescence: About 24; two rows. Color: When opening, upper surface:Yellow, close to 9A, and red, close to 46A, bicolored. Base, mostlyyellow; mid-section, longitudinally streaked with yellow and red; apex,mostly red. When opening, lower surface: Yellow, 9A to 9B, and dark red,close to 53A, bicolored. Base, mostly yellow; mid-section and apex,longitudinally streaked with yellow and dark red. Fully opened, uppersurface: Yellow, 9A, and red, 45A to 46A, bicolored. Base, mostlyyellow; mid-section and apex, longitudinally streaked with yellow andred. With development, red becomes more orange, close to 44A. Fullyopened, lower surface: Yellow, 9A to 9B, and dark red, close to 53A,bicolored. Base, mostly yellow; mid-section and apex, longitudinallystreaked with yellow and dark red.

Disc florets.—Shape: Tubular, elongated. Apex: Five-pointed. Length:About 5.5 mm. Width: Apex, about 1.5 mm; base, about 1 mm. Number ofdisc florets per inflorescence: About 84. Color: Immature: Lighter than144A; development occurs slowly and green color is maintained. Mature:Apex: 9A. Mid-section: Close to 147C. Base: 155D.

Peduncles.—Length: First peduncle: About 3.5 cm. Fourth peduncle: About5.8 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Angle to vertical: About 45° fromvertical. Strength: Strong, flexible. Color: 144A.

Reproductive organs.—Androecium: Present on disc florets only. Anthercolor: 9A to 12A. Pollen amount: Pollen production has not beenobserved. Gynoecium: Present on both ray and disc florets.

Disease resistance: Resistance to pathogens common to Chrysanthemums hasnot been observed on plants grown under commercial greenhouseconditions.

Seed production: Seed production has not been observed.

It is claimed:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plantnamed ‘Yocarson City’, as illustrated and described.